By Jenique Belgrave
A three-hour work stoppage at the School Meals Department (SMD) depot in Harbour Road on Friday morning resulted in some primary school students getting lunch late and one school not receiving any meals.
Disgruntled SMD employees walked off the job after 7 a.m., complaining of burnout due to a shortage of personnel, inadequate vehicles and ageing equipment.
They returned to their posts around 10 a.m. However, the delay in meal preparation resulted in late delivery to some schools, the Ministry of Education confirmed.
“Meals were not delivered to one school, while those that arrived late at three others were returned. In one other case, staff repacked the meals in take-way containers for the students. However, meals were delivered as usual to the nearly 100 other schools across the island,” it said in a statement issued later in the day.
Speaking to the media after holding talks with the SMD staff, General Secretary of the National Union of Public Workers Wayne Walrond, accompanied by president Richard Green, said the action was a result of growing frustration with ongoing issues.
“Workers have determined that they have to send a strong message that they are at the [breaking] point where they need some attention to have these grievances addressed,” Walrond said.
“The areas where they are really short in staff are that they need school meals assistance and general workers to help support the cleaning and maintenance around the area. They have faulty equipment, which is not functioning and that causes pressure to get school meals out on time. These workers come in as early as 5 o’clock and they have to grapple with malfunctioning equipment, including the fryers and steamers, and because they have to recycle the equipment due to shortages then that puts more pressure on getting meals out on time,” he added.
In addition, the workers pointed out that not only were there insufficient vehicles to service schools but the available vehicles did not have either spare tyres or wheel tools.
Green said a meeting will be held with officials from the Ministry of Education this weekend and more staff will be brought on to ease the pressure.
“We have two days over the weekend in which we can recruit some staff in order to relieve some of the pressures that they are feeling now,” he said.
Friday morning’s industrial action significantly impacted several primary schools serviced by the depot, according to President of the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) Rudy Lovell.
He told Barbados TODAY he had received reports that West Terrace Primary, Wilkie Cumberbatch Primary, and West Terrace Primary had all received lunches well after 2 p.m. School meals were delivered at Grantley Prescod Primary at 3:05 p.m.
Saying that the delays had become an unwelcome norm in the last two terms, Lovell expressed concerns about the impact on students’ learning.
“It significantly affects the delivery of education because it is difficult to teach children when they are hungry,” the BUT head said.
He expressed hope that the situation would be rectified as soon as possible for “the sake of our children”.
In its statement, the Ministry of Education apologised to the staff and students at schools where lunches were delivered late or not at all.
It assured stakeholders that action has already being taken to ensure that enough workers are in place to guarantee the on-time delivery of meals to schools when classes resume next week.
jeniquebelgrave@barbadostoday.bb
